April 05, 2012
In the days leading up to our March 13th Republican Primary it began to appear more and more like we were going to have a spectacular horse race in our presidential preference vote. Tracking polls coming out of the weekend had all three candidates, Mitt Romney, Newt Gingrich and Rick Santorum, knotted at 31%. The prolonged GOP primary parade had made it to the Heart of Dixie and we were finally finding some relevance in the presidential selection process.
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March 29, 2012
The 2012 Legislative Session is in its seventh week and they are no closer to finding a solution to the daunting financial dilemma facing the General Fund Budget than when the session began on February 7th. There is even some talk that decisions or solution to the nightmare may be delayed to a Special Session later this year closer to the start of the fiscal year, which begins October 1st. However, that procrastinating would cost the beleaguered General Fund an additional $200,000 that it does not have at this time. Maybe the legislature is hoping that some manna from heaven will reign down on them and they can avoid the Armageddon that awaits. This miracle has occurred the past few years in the form of federal stimulus dollars but that rodeo is up. The chickens have finally come home to roost.
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March 22, 2012
I have a cadre of political friends around the state with whom I love to visit and talk politics. We regale stories of old campaigns and reminisce about tidbits of tales of Big Jim Folsom, George Wallace, Howell Heflin and other legendary icons and even embellish them a bit.
Recently, we have lamented how politics has changed. In the old days, Wallace and Folsom would go from town to town with a country band and make 15 speeches a day and shake as many as 1000 hands daily and look folks squarely in the eye and ask them for their vote.
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March 15, 2012
You know the results of Tuesday’s primary election and I do not because this column had to be published before the voting. However, my prediction is that whichever candidates won in the Republican primary statewide will go on to victory in November.
We have become a reliably Republican state from top to bottom. When it comes to presidential politics we have been safely in the GOP column for 48 years. Since 1964 the Republican standard bearer has carried Alabama 10 out of 11 times. The one exception was Jimmy Carter in 1976. Carter was a Georgia neighbor, devout Southern Baptist peanut farmer and his plurality in the Heart of Dixie was very narrow. No Democrat has come close to winning Alabama since the Carter anomaly 36 years ago.
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March 08, 2012
We are less than one week away from the primary. That is singular for one primary. We are now a one party state when it comes to statewide politics. The only reason that anyone will ask for a Democratic ballot Tuesday is if they want to vote for a local candidate for judge or county commissioner.
Only one Democrat qualified to run for any of the statewide judicial races this year. Harry Lyon is a perennial joke candidate who simply puts his name on the ballot every year. The last time he was on the ballot he received half a percentage point of the vote.
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March 01, 2012
As the 2012 Legislative Session evolves, I am reminded of my days as a legislative page during the early 1960’s. George Wallace was governor and the Capitol Press Corps was remarkable. Television had not yet become the premier medium. Newspapers were still King of the Hill.
The capitol reporters who covered Goat Hill were legends. The most legendary was Bob Ingram of the Montgomery Advertiser. Others included the likes of Al Fox of the Birmingham News, Hugh Sparrow of the Birmingham News, Rex Thomas of the Associated Press, Don Martin of UPI and Clarke Stallworth of the Birmingham Post Herald. A young cub reporter named Jim Bennett joined Stallworth in 1961. With the passing of the Mobile Press Register’s Bill Sellers in February 2011, Jim Bennett may be the last surviving member of the famous 1964 Capitol Press Corps.
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February 22, 2012
Our legislative branch of government is the recipient of many slings and arrows. They, along with members of Congress, are generally at the bottom of public opinion polls. They are the object of ridicule and are generally castigated as crooks. It is a shame because most of these men and women are outstanding people who are striving to serve their state. Many are stellar business people and professionals who are giving their retirement years to public service. However, as soon as they put their names on the ballot and are elected they are then relegated to the term politician, which has a dubious perception.
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February 16, 2012
Most political observers were shocked and somewhat in awe when State Senator Scott Beason chose to challenge veteran congressman Spencer Bachus in a Republican primary. Beason’s Don Quixote mission is a pragmatic approach to move up the political ladder in a normal setting. Beason is in the middle of a four-year term and has a free shot at the 20 year veteran congressman.
However, this scenario is so surprising because Beason has written the book on how to get bad publicity, especially in that particular Jefferson/Shelby County suburban district. It is almost comical that someone would seek higher office after being stripped of a powerful senate committee by his fellow Republicans because of embarrassing escapades. Then he was castigated as a racist and opportunist by a federal judge. He single handedly and arrogantly refused to allow Jefferson County to avoid bankruptcy. He also sponsored the immigration bill that made the state look racist and intolerant. I guess Beason’s theory in his quest is that any publicity is good publicity.
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February 09, 2012
The 2012 Regular Session of the Legislature begins this week. The Republican majority House and Senate produced a prolific amount of conservative legislation in their inaugural session of the quadrennium last year. Included in their initial year was a controversial immigration law, a voter identification law, anti abortion legislation and tort reform legislation just to name a few. They also dealt with congressional reapportionment. It was an extremely productive session. It will be interesting to see what they do for an encore.
One of the foremost issues will be to deal with their own legislative district lines. They will have to redraw all 105 House districts and 35 State Senate districts to correspond with population changes occurring from the 2010 census. This project could be controversial. However, they may be able to handle it as easily as they did congressional redistricting.
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February 02, 2012
Believe it or not the 2012 election season is upon us. The legislature, in a cost savings measure last year, moved our primaries up to March 13. Our presidential preference primary and our regular primary will be on the same day, which is less than six weeks away.
Most of the contests this year will be for judicial posts. Five of our nine Supreme Court seats are up for election, along with several appellate court positions. One of the three public service commission offices, the presidency, is also on the ballot.
All seven members of our congressional delegation have to run every two years. Therefore, they are always running. Our delegation to Washington is made up of six Republicans and one Democrat. We have two females and five males. All seven are seeking reelection to Congress.
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